


Orange Jumpsuits and Sharp Knives

by MateriaFlower1_1



Category: Final Fantasy, Final Fantasy IX
Genre: Angst, Drama, F/M, Family, Fluff, Friendship, Friendship/Love, Hurt/Comfort, One Shot, One Shot Collection, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-25
Updated: 2020-04-25
Packaged: 2021-03-01 22:20:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 13,047
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23840659
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MateriaFlower1_1/pseuds/MateriaFlower1_1
Summary: If he saw that damn orange jumpsuit one more time... He would go insane. And that knife, so sharp, that she named herself after. It was probably because it was so shiny not because it could kill, with one swift flick of the wrist. The way he'd kill for her. A series of one-shots on the Ziddag pairing, with plenty of romance, dashes of angst, and a generous smattering of humour.
Relationships: Garnet Til Alexandros XVII/Zidane Tribal
Comments: 1
Kudos: 4





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy IX
> 
> So, you may have seen me around by now. If not, then here's what I'm doing: a series of prompt-based oneshots for several different pairings. The reason for the numbering is that I took two sets of 75 prompts and I just didn't want to change the numbering on the prompts I picked for this pairing.
> 
> I've gone for an angsty take here... it's just the most fun? Gosh, that sounds awful! Well, anyway, please enjoy...? That sounds almost sadistic here.

_010\. Memory_

It's been far too long since I saw him. An entire year, to be precise. I know that being Queen, I must act with a wise and serene aura, and speak as though I know no slang. Even though I used to love speaking so, I can't stand it now. I know that as the independent, 'Virgin Queen' I am, I shouldn't act as though my entire happiness depends on the existence of one man by my side; that it should waver with the fortunes of my country, of Alexandria. But I can't help but miss him. He opened a new world for me, one where I wasn't constantly keeping my head upturned to the sky. One where I could do whatever I want - be whatever I wanted. And now he's gone. At times, I see Steiner looking at me, sharing a sympathetic glance with Beatrix. I know what they're thinking, but it's never said. I often forget that he ever existed. Sometimes, I think he's just a false memory. It's difficult to tell what is just a dream anymore. Only Vivi will share stories about him with me, and I rarely see him. He's busy with his own family, and the Black Mage Village. I haven't seen him in a long time. Too long. Perhaps he's... No. I don't want to think like that, he won't, can't become just a memory too! I can barely remember my mother, and my father was never even an image true to my mind, just a distant man on the paintings that were so far above my head. I don't want another person to become just a memory! Too many people have left me, and sometimes, I feel as though I can't run a country, never mind live a life for myself alone! I just want those people back with me today, so that the nights aren't so cold and the days aren't so long. It pains me.

Perhaps for my approaching birthday I shall call them all back. But the biting voice at the back of my head crows at me - how long for? Would they even remember a stuck-up, spoiled, imposter of a princess turned queen? It plagues my mind, and haunts my dreams. There have been many nights, too many, where I wake up in a clamy, sticky sweat and the fading sound of that voice taunting my head. It sickens me to the pit of my stomach.

I have caught my reflection in passing in the many mirrors coating the luxurious, publicly viewed part of the castle, and every time my eyes are wide, doe-like, and sad. It hurts to admit how pained I look even to myself. I feel pity for Beatrix and Steiner having to loom upon every day, so long as this pain persists. This loneliness, this loss of memory - it not only causes me pain, but pain to those around me too.

Oh, how I miss them all. I miss _him_. But by now, he's just a faint blotch on my memory.


	2. 008. Orange

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy IX
> 
> Here's the second in my series! Just a warning: This one had more sensuous/adult imagery. Nothing explicit, just warning if you're that young/are offended by this stuff. You can skip this chapter if you want, and there will be no impairment to future reading. Errrm...Enjoy!

_008\. Orange_

The first time that Zidane saw the princess (he didn't really care what her name was then) and that damn orange jumpsuit, he knew they were going to have some problems. The way it clung to every contour of her just curvy enough body; the way it seemed to act like a second skin - it was just distracting enough for him to get his tail cut off in battle. It didn't help that she had a face portraying her innate naïvety and skin as soft as fresh, juicy peaches. Perhaps it would do him well to remember her name - Garnet, was it?

Next time they were alone together, Zidane tried to persuade her out of that strange concoction of orange that seemed to be gracing his dreams far more often than he would've liked. Really, it was a wonder that all of his limbs were intact and he hadn't been maimed by the rusty knight for 'defiling the princess'.

Oh boy, he spoke too soon.

It was a very, very hot summer night just outside Madain Sari; most of their party had retreaded into the relative cool of their tents, but Zidane and Dagger had both elected to stay sitting around that blasted fire that wouldn't even have been lit if they didn't need the heat. Zidane had spent most of the past hour trying to keep his eyes firmly on the spluttering flames of the coughing fire to little avail. The tight, skin like jumpsuit just caught his attention no matter how much he tried; the way it glimmered in the dim firelight, the way it clung to every contour of her body, from her large, round breasts to her shapely hips and...

"Zindane? Is everything quite... well?"

Zidane restrained the urge to splutter like a mad man and kept his voice low - now was really not the time to wake Steiner or Eiko!

"Of course Dagger." God! If it wasn't enough that she was simply irresistible, she had the voice of an angel and the real face that could launch a thousand ships to match. And he didn't even want to get started on just how irresistibly ingenuous she was, so perfect for his less than innocent desires...

"Are you quite sure? You seem to be very hot, are you sure you wouldn't like to go into your tent?" She asked as sweetly as could be, shuffling so she was next to him and placing on oh so soft hand on his forehead as though to take his temperature.

"I'm just fine Dagger, although it is very hot, isn't it? Are you sure you're cool enough in that jumpsuit?" Zidane asked, hoping desperately that she wouldn't catch on to all of his deeper meanings. Of course she wouldn't - this was Dagger!

"Well yes, I suppose I am. I would postulate that you are too?" She shifted under Zidane's half lit intense gaze. "I suppose removing my undershirt wouldn't be too improper..."

She turned her back to him and Zidane watched in amazement as tortuously slowly and too far away, she slowly peeled the orange second skin down, just far enough so that she could take off her white undershirt and expose the soft skin of her back - just as peach like as he'd imagined - to him, before covering it up again all too fast.

She turned to face him with the shirt tightly clenched in one fist, and a gratuitous amount of skin showing - although to Zidane's dismay, she elected to lace up the front if her suit as tightly as it could go, showing him no skin past the far too modest cut of the neckline.

And it only served to make Zidane even hotter.

"Will you not join me?" Dagger asked with a sweet, sweet smile - almost as though she knew exactly what she was doing, and this was her cruel way of getting vengeance for all the times Zidane had come onto her.

He swallowed thickly. "I suppose I could." And not breaking eye contact with those sweet fawn eyes, he slowly undid his own shirt, removing it entirely with his brash over confidence.

Did she even know what she did to him?! The tension in the air was tangible; it could be cut with even the bluntest of knives.

"Are you cooler now, Zidane?"

 _No. Of course not, not when I can see down the enticing crevice in your breasts._ "Yes" he rasped in a voice he didn't mean to come out.

She'd looked taken aback by it too, but recovered quickly - surely something she'd learnt as a princess - and her eyes, if he wasn't mistaken, darkened a shade. Perhaps the princess wasn't so innocent after all? But he'd never know, because this was forbidden, more than the orange jumpsuit should be.

He stood up, shirt in hand and left her there by the orange fire, and even though he could feel her hurt and confused eyes boring into his skull, he didn't cave in.

"Sorry princess, but I'd rather like to keep my head in my shoulders." He muttered, just loud enough so that that he half hoped despite himself that she'd hear over the crackling fire.

That night, he dreamt of orange.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, I did warn you! It's nothing huge, but I just thought I'd say - you never know! Please, review if you've got time and liked it, and follow for more to come! Thanks!


	3. 020. Guard

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy IX
> 
> Here is another oneshot! (If you couldn't tell already) I hope that you'll like it. Enjoy!

_020\. Guard_

I was supposed to guard her. On my life and death I vowed I would. I promised it on the day we left Alexandria, before we set off on a journey far bigger and longer than either of us could've anticipated. But I did not keep that promise, not the first time. I felt the duty to my last remaining blood was more important than that promise, and I left her. Unprotected and unguarded, surrounded by all the others, but not by me.

I supposed that when I came back and received the cold shoulder for more than a month, after she'd truly realised it was me, of course, I shouldn't have been surprised. I did break my promise to her after all, so I did deserve it in a way. But then, finally, on the eve of her visit to Lindblum for the annual celebration of the two city's friendship, and she was due to be gone for a long time yet, she forgave me. With a passionate kiss, I might add. And I was finally able to take up my promise once more, even if it was unofficial. She let me come with her on that visit.

I was supposed to guard all of her, Steiner told me once. Apparently that also included her aptly given nickname of 'The Virgin Queen'. I did not see eye to eye with him on that and, well, on that trip to Lindblum, she lost _all_ right to that nickname. In a way, I broke my promise to guard her again. But I don't think she minded too much.

And when some ass decided to throw something at her in the streets, in defiance of her, I was the one who caught it. I was the one who guarded her. I was also the one who later took him aside and explained to him in very, _very_ grave terms why he should not have done that, and why he should not do that ever again. How she was the kindest queen he could get, so he'd better not complain again.

Everyone began talking after that. They said I was her dearest friend, which I may've been. They said I was her bodyguard, which I sort of was and was not. They said I was her lover, which I had been, in Lindblum. They said I would be her lover, even after she married a prince, which I vowed I would not be - nor would I let happen.

The threat of marriage was always so real though. She told me that increasingly so the pressure was getting heavier and heavier. It was my duty only to guard her, so I didn't say anything. Until one day, when she was at her mother's grave during council, I proposed an idea to them.

"I'll marry her."

I saw their looks of borderline disgust, and their chattering bubbled to a full roar.

"Listen." I commanded through gritted teeth. "You have no one viable to marry her, and I have shown time and time again that I can guard her from whatever may happen. And I have the strength and knowledge from travelling the entire world and more."

They quietened, and some of them looked at me with a slight nod of agreement. But others prized their pure blood lines, and would fight to the death for them.

"Think about it." I suggested, leaving the room before they could say another word.

The next day, she ran to me and hugged me, arms going around my neck as she smiled into my shoulder.

"They'll let me marry you!" She exclaimed, looking at my face with joy. I was taken aback, eyes wide open and eyebrows raised. And then I smiled, pulling her into a hug once more.

"Now, let me do this properly." She said, guiding us to sit on a nearby sofa or chair or - it didn't matter. "Will you marry me?" She asked, chewing the corner of her bottom lip slightly.

"Of course."

And now, here I am, promising once more to guard her. I said I would many times before, and promised at least twice. But this time, I will keep the promise. I'll guard her forever.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm always a fan of antagonising the bureaucracy (God I can never spell that word! Thank you, spell check) it just creates some of the best plots when writing about royalty, I feel. But there we go. I hope you liked it, please review if you did and follow for updates. Thanks!


	4. 050. Flower

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy IX
> 
> This is the penultimate oneshot! There will be goodbyes to come yet, so I hope you like this chapter for the meantime. Enjoy!

_050\. Flower_

_Red Rose_

I heard the gentle flapping of wings first. Then I heard her voice, clear and trembling of the soft wind, singing a melody that seemed so old, and warm. It was so elegant, and just like her. It was just like her to surrounded by flowers. But of course, when I finally made it to the terrace, she stopped singing and the birds flurried away. I knew I wasn't as elegant as she was, but I didn't think I was that scary.  
She looked at me, serenely, the soft blue sky of midday and the clouds hovering on it floating calmly behind her, her eyes widened and doe-like. And all around the grey marbled columns and further along on the terrace were flowers - red roses. So red, and full, that they looked fit to drop blood. I'd always thought that was more Beatrix's territory - she was the one with the haunted past and scars adorning her body and blood dripping from her hands (not that I could talk) - but they looked strangely good behind Dagger. The harsh, deep, red contrasted against her unmarked creamy skin, and settled against her glossy black hair. But of course - she was just too shy to know that.  
I realised why the flowers looked so right next to her later. They looked so right, because the blood filled petals were just a mirror of her past and a portent of her future. She was the last survivor of an entire race, and her future was full of more blood, and more pain. Her Eidolons - her life blood, the only reminder of her past - were taken from her, the strongest of which was thrown back to her by Beatrix, contained in a blood red Garnet, just like her namesake. On her mothers grave, she lay a wreath of the blood red roses, bursting with moisture, and something that looked more sinister. She didn't whimper, or cry - she was stronger than that now. She just lay the wreath down, and looked up to the sky.  
When she asked for my dagger, I worried - I panicked that soon, I may see her crimson blood dotted on the flowers and she'd be no more. Bit she coaxed me into it, and eventually I have her my dagger, throwing it loosely to where she was standing on the end of the pier. She told me to remember her as she was, and I worried internally, but I trusted the smile on her face. She looked up to Alexandria, the city of cranes that it was now, and she hacked through her beautiful ebony hair. I watched as the strands twisted and twirled in the air past me, and she smiled, as though a great weight had been removed from her shoulders. I could have sworn I saw a strand or two of her black hair lace their way around the blooms of the red roses standing on the grave behind us.

But it wasn't to last. I can remember exactly, in my last moments, how she looked. Behind her, lay a vast expanse of yellowish, orange sky, dead upon arrival. The hulking great airship was a mesh of umber wood and steely grey plating - but it was just a blur to me, a gateway to a future I'd stopped considering. I was kneeling on one knee, and I can remember how the ground felt dead beneath me - the dry, dead plants cracked beneath my knee and foot, and the soil was equally as dry, rock hard, and as infertile as possible. Nothing was green there, everything was grey. Dead, or dying, and a the colour of regret - of years of glory gone past and waned. She looked tired too, swaying slightly on her feet but grounded by how earnestly and confusedly and worriedly her wide, red-rimmed, sparkling dark brown eyes looked into my far less impressive blue ones. She was biting her bitten lip to keep it from trembling, and her eyebrows were pinched. With a few words, we parted, and as I felt her eyes on me as the airship flew up as away, I didn't look back. I couldn't look back. I didn't want to remember her crying at me. I did love her - I think it may have been true love - I was not cruel enough to keep the ending long and messy. I wanted to remember her as I first truly saw her: singing a warm melody from a life gone past, the white doves surrounding her, and the red roses, filled to the brim with moisture, framing her.  
Those red roses were the last thing I knew.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For reference, the Red Rose symbolises True Love in plant symbolism.
> 
> So I hope that you liked this chapter! Please, review if you liked it and follow for more. Thanks!


	5. 050. Eyes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy IX
> 
> This is the end! I'm afraid that this is the final oneshot I will be doing for now, although I have some more planned for the future, in about 6 months to a year you might see them around. Thank you to everyone who has reviewed, it was very lovely to hear your thoughts!
> 
> For now, enjoy!

_050\. Eyes_

_See_

When we saw her after Brahne's death, I knew that something wrong. I was certain. And perhaps I was looking for something to be wrong too, because then maybe she might've been missing us. But mostly me. So I don't really know how I felt about there being something _actually_ wrong with her. I saw her eyes, after seeing the rest of her in that beautiful, tight white dress. They were bright in the many candles, and sparkling in the flames. But there was nothing in them. She seemed empty, standing up there, so far away from us all. She looked like a doll being paraded; even the Tin-Can Man could've realised that there was something missing. But they didn't. Her eyes were empty, they were harbouring her fear. I saw it, even when all the others didn't. Even so, I couldn't do anything for her, not then.

Her eyes were stuck in my head for the entire interim wherein I didn't see her. The empty, charcoal-like eyes were tattooed behind my eyelids, spearing my mind whenever I closed my eyes. They appeared in other women's eyes. They appeared in my dreams, and in every waking moment. I couldn't get the empty look out of my head, how dead they looked, and how terrified they seemed just beneath the almost black surface. It was such a change from the near-chocolate pools that had become my every sense in the past few months. I knew those eyes like the back of my hand, and how they rippled with her joy and stirred in her anger and narrowed in her laughter... But I never saw how they looked with the blank, dead, fear.

Her eyes had not changed one jot by the next time I saw her. Not a bit, she seemed just as dead, and when they weren't looking, just as scared. She looked almost happy to see me, but it faded just as quickly as it had appeared. She looked cold, and scared, and small on the back of the Castle Eidolon. And later, when the whole of Alexandria had been flattened, she looked just the same - if not worse. Her clothes were a grimy orange and the iridescent, smooth material was ripped and pulled. Her hair was a wild, raven wing and her skin was muddied and scraped and no longer the perfect porcelain - she was free of her dollish prison. Her face was puffed from crying and her eyes and nose stained a crimson-berry hue; her chin scraped and the hair sticking to her face. But the fear was gone from her eyes. As was the brief confusion and horror and awe. They were dead; cold and dead and blackened lumps.

I could see that, but they couldn't. I could see the fear and the horror and the confusion where they couldn't. I could see it where even she couldn't - her eyes were known better to me, then they were to herself, by the end. By then end, when her eyes regained something of their colour, through her fear - the fear I last saw her with.

But the fear didn't stop me from leaving her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, that's a nice bit of angst to end on!
> 
> Please, review if you've like this series or this oneshot in particular, and follow for future updates. Thanks!


	6. 080. Cards

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy IX
> 
> Well hello everyone! It's been... a while... Sorry! But I am back, with (at least) 8 new one shots for you all! So as always, please sit back, relax, and enjoy!

_080\. Cards_

Dagger,

I finally made it back to Lindblum. The entire Tantalus Theatre Troupe is now reunited! The boss is planning to put on performances in the ruins of the Theatre, he says to help with moral. Lindblum is still a tip. It's bad, really, really bad. Worse than Regent Cid is probably letting on because who wants to acknowledge that the land they were ruling over went to hell in a handbasket? Progress is really, really slow we're getting there. Lindblum is finally starting to take shape again. The Theatre is still a tip but it's kinda artistic, no? We could put on tragedies there and hey, at least we can all relate now! You probably knew all of this anyway. I'm just telling you because... I wanna talk to you, I guess.

Your Zidane.

P.S: I know I left Alexandria kinda quickly, but I've just got one thing to do here. Don't worry, I'll be back at your side very soon.

* * *

Dagger,

Answer me this: what am I supposed to call you, now that I'm officially a resident of Alexandria and you're my Queen. Garnet or Dagger? And yes, now that you're not in rage to vent your anger at me, The Boss of course tried to beat me for leaving Tantalus. Ha, he tried. Well, the less said about him, the better. I'll always be grateful for what he gave me, but I'll never forget how he treated me.

The scouting mission is going well in Dali, I think I've managed to figure out exactly how they're still making money with no Black Mage plant and no Farms: Chocobo breeding. Heh, guess it takes all types. I can just image what Vivi would've thought of all this... Man, I miss that little kid. And the people of Dali are as weird as ever, of course. Secretive and weird and strangely evasive. Just because I've got this stupid badge thing now, seems like no one wants to talk to me.

I'll be back in your arms within the week, don't worry, My Queen.

Zidane.

P.S: The badge isn't stupid. I love it.

* * *

Garnet,

Well now you've said that you don't mind, Dagger, of course I'm going to use them both.

Did you know that the day I write this, it's been two years since we defeated Kuja and Necron? Two years since I lost that brother...

I know that, again, I left quickly. But I had to go and see for myself. And yeah, Vivi really is gone. I thought that he just hadn't been in town when we reunited, that I'd hear from him soon. But he's gone. I found his grave in the Black Mage Village to prove it. I feel like I've lost a brother, or even a son.

I'm sorry Dagger, I'll be back soon. I just need some time.

⁃ yours, Zidane

* * *

Dagger,

I don't know why in the hell you decided to do this but apparently making me a captain wasn't an awful idea. We successfully helped to quell the issue in Treno - but obviously it was all my doing with my expert escape artist skills. And maybe the fact that I used to live in a slum like theirs.

Apparently we'll be stationed here for a year. That's a year too long in my books - when I come back, you could've been married off to somebody and I won't be there to stop it. You can't do that. I would be so mad if that happened under Steiner's watch, too. I thought he was on my side! I thought he was routing for us! Well, maybe the overt hatred was a dead give away. But Beatrix, though!

Yours forever (unless you decide to pass me over, in which case just remember that I now know all the castle secrets),

Zidane.

P.S: I really do know _all_ the secrets. Even the good ones. Even your good ones.

* * *

Dagger,

 _My_ Dagger, more correctly. I miss you, and maybe it's that that's been making me think about all the time we spent together, so long. Perhaps Madain Sari is just very far away, or perhaps I'm truly realising it for the first time. After the fourth anniversary of our battle, and our reunion's fast approaching, I feel like we both realise that we can't go on dancing around our feelings any longer. Maybe I'm a coward for saying it in writing when I won't get back for at least a month, but...

Garnet, my Dagger, Queen of Alexandria, I love you.

Zidane

P.S: the mission is going very well and yes you were right to send me alone, sending me with a group of soldiers would've made trying to parlay with the reunited summoners a lot harder.

* * *

Dagger,

Did you send me off to the Northern Continent because I ignored you? Sorry. I didn't mean to! It's just that I was so mad when I had to just stand there as a guard during that ball and watch it all happen. Well, I did mean to pour that man's wine on him though - he was hitting on you! I won't let any slime balls do that to my girl. And then I just got so angry that I couldn't bare to talk it out and you got angry at me for annoying that man and...

Sorry. I mean it. Please don't be mad at me.

Yours forever (even if you're mad at me), Zidane.

* * *

Dagger,

I'm stopping in Conde Petie on the way back. It's still as nice as it was when we visited, and the dwarves are just as... ever.

It's my birthday today. I turned 23. Or at least, as far as I know. I guess I've been thinking all day about all kinds of different things. Now I know that you're not sending me on these missions because you hate me but because you love me and want to keep me safe from being excluded from the castle, I can't help but get annoyed.

Anyway, I walked past the Sanctuary the other day. Do you remember that? And also that whilst I'm in the Village, we're technically married?

Well... would that be so bad outside of the village?

Yours, Zidane.

* * *

My wife,

Way to send me away immediately. I know, I know. I'm the Prince Consort now so you can send me away on all the long trips you don't wanna do because I'm all official now. Still, though, it's only been a few weeks since we married. We barely got back from our honeymoon! And a nice honeymoon it was, my dear...

Cid sends his regards, as do the members of Tantalus. You would've been proud of how I restrained myself from telling the boss to stick it. Marcus is well, practising for his next leading role, and Blank's at his side, as ever. Cinna's just as... odd, and the new kids are growing up way, way too fast. And the Theatre's finally been restored to its former glory. Makes me happy to see

Anyway, I can't wait to come back to you soon. Now that it's actually acceptable for us to sleep in the same bed and I don't have to sneak my way in and out all the time.

Your husband,

Zidane.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm actually a massive fan of this style of writing. I hope you like it just as much!
> 
> Please review if you've got time and follow for more. Thanks!


	7. 049. Intent

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy IX
> 
> This week, it's a post-game one shot, kinda set between some of the postcards from last week. I hope you like it!
> 
> Enjoy

_049\. Intent_

This suit of armour was sweaty, Zidane soon decided. It wasn't the showy ones like the Lindblum soldiers, with a stupid helmet, thank god, but it was hot under the beating sun of the outer continent. Although he supposed that really, he should be thankful that he wasn't wearing anything so skimpy as the Alexandrian knight's armour - if you could even call it that. He'd almost caught himself checking one or two of them out but then Dagger's voice just seemed to crack a hand across his skull and somehow he couldn't focus anymore, you know?

He'd been leading this expedition to the outer continent for a long time now. Four, maybe five months, perhaps? He was almost losing track. A while back, Dagger had sent him to the outer continent to scout for a suitable location to build a new city. It wasn't colonisation, she said, but that continent was rich in natural resources and no one that they could find lived there. So, a city was to be built. He'd found several places and eventually, the one that was the greenest, built across the river with one side backing into the mountains, was to be the new city, built in partnership with Lindblum. As Zidane had recently been promoted to General of the Army, it was his job to lead the first settlement expedition for the Alexandrians, and since they'd been the ones to begin this entire process, Zidane even had precedence over the Lindblum officials. He felt quite smug when he remembered that. Once, he'd been a sewer rat in their city. Now, he was commanding them all.

So far, progress had been good. They'd wiped out most lingering monsters in the area, and had built several bridges across the river, even harnessing it into a large walled dam. The engineers of Lindblum were working away on their plumbing systems, a new design they'd created especially for this new city, and houses were starting to fly up. It was beginning to look like a real city. All it needed was people. And a name.

He'd written to Dagger about the latter. She'd have a name all figured out, right? She had written back that she had a few ideas but that it should be up to Zidane. He appreciated the kindness but boy was it hard to think of. This city was big, it had a lot of promise! This name was going to stick around forever. He kind of wanted to call it Garnet. Or Dagger. Or Alexandria II. He thought for much longer than he let on about these kind of things.

But finally, the day arrived when wave one of the operation came to an end; when the base preparations and structures of the city had come to and end. Steiner arrived on the Red Rose II, as a formal protector of the Queen, squeaky as ever in his suit of armour. He came alone; the Queen was unavailable to come as she was 'unfortunately deep in royal duties'. She was probably sick, Zidane thought, and cursed himself that he wasn't home already.

But of course, he played his part. He had been an actor, after all.

"And, General Zidane, what do you name this city?" Cid asked curiously. He'd turned up too, but in comparison to Dagger's lack of arrival it frankly didn't matter.

"Almandine." He answered shortly, hands behind his back, tucked under the dark green, thin cape, and rocking backwards and forwards on the heels of his feet. He realised he probably looked like a bored child but he hadn't seen Dagger in _ages_ and just couldn't wait to leave and go home and steal into her room when she least expected it.

Cid looked at Zidane interestedly. "I see. A kind of Garnet, I believe?"

Zidane felt and icy chill roll down his back at both being immediately caught out, and at the tone in the Regent's voice.

"Yes, sir." Was all Zidane said as an answer. He wasn't scared of Cid, but he'd rather be in the good books of a friend so close to Dagger. That he was the regent of Lindblum also mattered, he supposed.

"I see." He didn't say anything and the two of them merely hovered for a while as they waited for the crowd to die down, and eventually he wash ushered off to look around the new city.

Steiner sidled up to him after a while. They greeted each other as old friends - technically they were at his point, after all. Five years was a very long time. Beatrix was well, apparently, as was their newly born son. Zidane still had to wonder at quite how those two had ended up together, but stranger things had happened in this world.

"Zidane, I have a few words for you." Zidane couldn't help but cringe internally. His tone and air had all the markings of one of his moral rants. He thought he'd finished with them by now - he'd graduated from Monkey to Boy and now to his actual name, after all. "Please, tell me your intentions with the Queen. And if they are ill do not hesitate to think that I would strand you at the Iifa Tree on our journey back."

Zidane snorted. "Believe me, she would be the first to kick me out. She's a lot stronger than she looks, you know that."

Steiner grew slightly red and his whole suit of armour rattled with his raised fist. "Yes I know! But tell me your intent with the Queen!"

"Calm down, rusty." Zidane held up his palms. "You think I'd still be here if I didn't want to be around her for as long as I can?"

Steiner said nothing, but the rattling stopped and he finally lowered his fist. "If I was the one who could ask, I would've married her three years ago. Actually, I would've stayed in Conde Petie. But I can't, and we couldn't."

"You- you-"

"Try not to short-circuit." Zidane thudded the sentient suit of armour on the back. "Of course I would've."

"I see..." Steiner only looked at Zidane, and the new city, and the blue sky, and the umber mountains behind them, not saying anything much for a solid few minutes. Zidane began to notice the sun baking his back again. "I appreciate it, Zidane. Of course, you have my favour."

Zidane smiled, annoyed at himself that he was a little shocked at that revelation. "Thanks, Steiner." He laughed to himself. That might've been the first time he ever called Steiner by name. Evidently that hadn't got past the knight as he spluttered before hurrying off somewhere.

Within the next few days, they were back on the Red Rose II, as the next phase of the city was all planned out and Zidane's work was, for now, done. For a few quiet days they sailed aboard the airship until, eventually, they arrived back in Alexandria.

And there Garnet was, dressed in a dress of light pink, and a silver tiara atop her long, silky hair. Zidane couldn't wait to see her - properly, that was. Later that evening, he visited her chambers to 'debrief fully on the progress of the new city'. Everyone knew what a lie that was; the whispers had all decided that the Queen and her General had been friends - and more than friends - for many years now.

Zidane smiled at her as they sat together, watching the city from her sitting room. "You know, Steiner questioned me on my 'intent' with you."

She looked at him with a shocked, slightly alarmed look on her face. "He did what?"

"Yeah, I'm serious."

"Oh Steiner, he can be rather blunt."

Zidane laughed, opting not to say anything more to her about her beloved Knight.

"So, what did you reply with?"

"Well now..." he tapped his chin thoughtfully and hummed loudly for effect. "I said that I was actually here just to steal your tiaras." He carefully worked the silver tiara off her head as he said it, and she scoffed at him, catching him quickly and taking it back. It felt heavier than the light stands of silver looked. He supposed that was the physical evidence of the intangible weight of the kingdom that she carried with her everywhere.

"Oh, what a shame." She played with the tiara in her slim fingers. "Don't you like crowns?"

"Nah. Too heavy for me. All that 'responsibility' too." He looked positively terrified as he emphasised that dreaded word with widened eyes.

"That's funny, because I thought you might like rather good with a crown on." She was looking down at the tiara in her hands, tracing the thin strands of silver as they wove and interlocked to create that triangular shape.

"Funny, because that's exactly what I said to Steiner that my intent was with you." He raised her chin up to his face with the tip of his index finger. She leant in and kissed him, with a smile playing on her lips.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I like this ship because they're just adorable. Well, that's me out for this week.
> 
> Please review if you've got time and follow for more. Thanks!


	8. 088. Book

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy IX
> 
> So I've had all of the exams this week, and so it's kinda short today... Sorry T.T
> 
> Enjoy!

_088\. Book_

_My short hair still bothers me. I catch it from the corner of my eye, occasionally, and it is most confusing. I expect that my ministers shall be thoroughly unimpressed, not to mention my chief of wardrobe-_

"You have a Chief of Wardrobe?" A snappy, accented jibe came from behind my back. I felt my face flush briefly, and I snapped the weathered, leather-bound book shut, held firmly between my legs.

I stared at Zidane as he came to face me over the other side of the pathetically small fire on the deck of our airship.

"Of course. Image matters greatly to a monarch. And who else would help me dress?"

"Oh, I have a few ideas." He quipped. Had I not liked him so much, I would've felt repulsed by his suggestions. It is funny how different lecherous remarks can sound, depending on who's mouth they come from.

I chose not to humour him - not even with a roll of my eyes. "I see you have little experience with a princess' gowns."

"You underestimate me, my queen."

I could not be sure if he was joking about being with several princesses or having experience in women's clothing. I wasn't sure if I hoped for the former or latter more.

"What else do you have in that book of yours, then?"

I carefully slid it from between my legs and opened it to a random page.

 _I think that I am falling in love with him._ I blushed, and quickly flipped the page hoping that he hadn't read it.

 _Today, mother died. Except, she wasn't really mother anymore._ I stared at the page for a moment, and flipped it closer to the present.

_Today I discovered that who I was, was a lie. I am not the true Princess of Alexandria. My name is not Garnet Til Alexandros XIII. It is not Dagger. It is Sarah, and my mother is named Jane. Brahne is not the mother I had thought she was. I am not an Alexandrian, but a summoner of Madain Sari. I am kin of Eiko, not of my countrymen. I am no longer myself, I am a stranger._

Without my knowing, Zidane had moved to sit next to me.

"It's okay, I understand."

I was about to be frightfully teenage and accuse him of 'not being able to understand!', but when I sharply turned my head to look into his eyes, I realised with a heart-wrenching pull that he understood better than perhaps anyone else. His wide blue eyes looked into mine with a shimmer of reassurance and understanding. He, too, was not who he'd always thought he was. He was an experiment, a creature made for a person. He was not born into the same world as the rest of us. It pained my heart to think that he thought as he did; his lack of confidence in his humanity was by far unwarranted. But I, in turn, understood why.

He looked down at the pages spread open on my lap and took my hand. I could not look away from his face.

The wind blew through the trees gently and my short hair twisted around my face. The leaves rustled all around the land the airship had temporarily landed on and I felt at peace.

"Hey, Dagger?"

I broken reluctantly from my daze.

"I love you, too."

My face flushed for the second time today and I spluttered a little. The pages in my little book had turned onto one that said only a few sentences. And the final one was the shortest of them all.

_I love him._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know it was so short, I'm sorry T.T But I've got a month's break from next week, and obviously over studying I'll be writing!
> 
> Please review if you've got time, and follow for more. Thanks!


	9. 110. Endless Night

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy IX
> 
> I'm so sorry I skipped a week! I feel so bad, I was doing so well until now T.T I had this insane, 20,000+ word project to do so I kinda ran out of time to post anything before I fell into a deep, deep sleep...
> 
> Enjoy!

_110\. Endless Night_

The night of Zidane's return was all a blur. As the sun was just beginning to slide past the mountains, the play ended rather abruptly as he returned to her, and she flew into his arms. The crowd slowly dissipated, after they were sated in their gossip and their Queen had announced the end of today's performance. There had been a few disgruntled faces in the crowd, but she'd been too happy to even bother accounting for them. She'd beckoned Zidane into the castle with her, and then into her chambers. The others, they'd somehow gone missing in the following chaos. She heard from Beatrix, who was occupying Steiner, that Freya and Sir Fratley had left in the crowd. And that Amarant and Lani had been spotted at a bar downtown. As to where Eiko was, Garnet could only assume that she was in the castle somewhere with Regent Cid and Lady Hidlagarde.

"Dagger." The two of them sat together, and alone at last, in the sitting room of her chambers. It felt so strange. They'd been far closer the two years they'd travelled together - even married at one point. So to sit opposite each other, on either side of a low, mahogany coffee table and a tray with a teapot and two fine china teacups on it, felt odd. She felt as though she were being held back to her chair when all she wanted was to go to him. And from the look in his eyes, the way that he spoke so stiffly, Zidane seemed to think so too.

"Zidane, I-"

"No, Dagger. _Please_. I need to tell you why I came back." He seemed to be strangling himself with the words stuck in his throat.

She nodded, and cocked her head to the side slightly.

"I came back for you."

Garnet bit back the sigh she desperately wanted to heave. Of shock or happiness she didn't know. A kind of tingle seemed to spread through her body. She looked into his eyes and there was such ferocity in his eyes, she was startled. And somehow knew that she felt the same. She'd been barely able to cope without him at first. He'd been there for her for the last two years, watching her, guiding her as she became a new person. And she'd been there to help him when he got lost, and when he felt he was alone.

"I know." It was all he had to say, and some of the force that seemed to show how hard he was struggling against himself seemed to evaporate. And instead, he looked happier, lighter than he had done since she'd first seen him up close, after the nervousness had fallen away.

She stood, and walked a few steps towards him, her white, heeled shoes clicking on the pristine marble tiles. That sound was the only thing that echoed around the wide, empty room as she stood before him, outstretching her hand to him and gently pulling her dress out of the way a little.

He looked from her face, which he'd been following in those torturously slow few steps, to her outstretched palm, back into her eyes.

She nodded, with that sly smile she'd come to be so good at. He took her hand, and she led him through the door on the north side of the room, concealed in the wall, that led into the bedroom beyond.

In there, Zidane finally got what he wanted, and Garnet got what she'd been curious about for so long.

At the blackest point of the night, the two of them lay together, covered by the fine sheets in the cool winter chill and watching the stars of the night sky, with only a handful of candles to light the room.

"So, is this the last time I'll get this view?" He quipped, looking down at Garnet, who lay in his arms.

She sighed, and looked away. "Zidane..."

"Yeah, I know." He looked back over to the balcony and the large windows that surrounded it. "Being a Queen's tough."

Garnet didn't say anything. There was a dozen other things that she would've rather thought about being in that position right then, than the hardships she faced as queen and how happy a future she could ever bear to have if it weren't with him.

"Dagger, tell me everything that happened." He looked into her eye and she looked back up at him. It wasn't a situation she imagined she'd ever actually be in, but that didn't mean she was unhappy. Far from it, actually.

"Well... where to begin?"

"Well, the start is always my favourite." He teased. He truly hadn't changed.

"After we returned, obviously a peace treaty had to be drawn up. Alexandria will pay reparations for many years to come, if not for the majority of my reign, and the rebuilding had been slow but progress is notably being made. Especially the downtown area, I hear that's booming but Steiner couldn't possibly let me go there alone anymore. And-"

"Oh, Dagger. I'd love to share a coffee with you later and talk about restoration effort. But tell me about _you_."

She smiled. "Of course you don't care." He let out a sharp objection to that but she only needed to raise her eyebrows in response. "Well, I... I am fine." What she didn't say was that she hadn't been. She didn't need to, he already knew. He'd heard the reports of how the Queen of Alexandria had stuck to black, or navy, or any other dark colour other than her customary white for months. He'd heard reports of how sad she looked, but he didn't do anything, not until the plan was carried off on her nineteenth birthday.

"Beatrix and Steiner are married!" They were both equally as happy to move onto a happier topic.

"Since when did rusty have the skills to pull such a cute girl as Beatrix?" Zidane snorted. He'd seen the two together, suspected that just maybe, something had happened between the two of them. But not that much!

"Hey!" She swatted his arm and he back away from her very slightly. "Anyway, turns out that they already had been a thing in this past."

"No. Way."

Garnet giggled. "Very much to the contrary, actually. But they broke up when things began to... happen." Zidane raised an eyebrow. "With the war. And then they couldn't see eye to eye on many things anymore."

Zidane made a face. "Oh boy. That _sucks_."

Garnet nodded. "Let's see, what else..."

"I heard that Amarant and Lani are kind of a thing, too."

"Only in the very loosest sense, Zidane. In your favourite way."

He scoffed at the insult. And yet he couldn't seem to find a fault with it - if it were the old Zidane. "No way Dagger, not anymore! I'm a one woman man, now."

"You've said that many times."

"Hey, I kept my word."

She paused, as a smile full of mirth crossed her face. "Would you like a medal, Zidane?"

He was suddenly struck by how much she'd changed. And by how much the habits of others had rubbed off on her - especially Freya's in that moment.

"Anyway, Eiko was adopted by uncle Cid and Hilda."

"Oh yeah, I knew about that."

Garnet shifted slightly more upright, to match Zidane. "How long were you in Lindblum for?"

Zidane felt the pit of his stomach churn. "I'll be honest; I was back for three months."

"Three months, and you didn't send me a sign? A message? Nothing?"

"Garnet, I wanted to make sure there was still room in your life for me. I needed to know that you had got married, or been married off, or were happy with that no-good their by your side."

The ice that was just frosting over in her eyes seemed to melt at his words. That didn't mean that she wasn't still irritated, but she understood. Besides, she didn't want to fight on this night of all nights. She just wanted to be happy. The fight could wait for later.

"I see."

"I didn't do it to hurt you, I promise. I just wanted to make sure you were okay, and that you'd still be happy if I came charging over. I'm sorry, I wanted to come back sooner too."

She took his head in her hands and kissed him. That conveyed all that she needed to say.

"And Vivi? Did I see a load of mini Vivis earlier too?" He snickered to himself.

"Oh Zidane..." Garnet didn't really know how to say it. There was only one way she could think of. "A few weeks after we returned, he- he stopped."

Zidane took that with the stony silence she expected.

A few quiet minutes passed as she digested the information. He'd always know it was coming, he half had expected to have found out earlier on. But it didn't make the news any less crushing.

"You know, he was like... like a son to me. In a strange way. Like one I'd adopted, and was raising the best I could. With the tantalus kids, they could all take care of themselves. So we'd guide them, but they didn't need all that much help. But Vivi was so..."

"Vivi."

He chuckled. "Yeah. He was just so 'Vivi'. He needed that guidance, and I was so happy that he seemed to want to listen to me."

"I know that he thought just as highly of you, Zidane." All Garnet could do was to be there. No matter how painful it was to watch.

"I just... I miss him, that's all."

"I know." Garnet places a hand over his heart, and moved closer to him. "I always thought that you'd make a great father one day, watching you interact with Vivi."

"Yeah?"

"Yes. I'm sure he was happy of it. He sent me a letter saying so, shortly before... you can read it in the morning."

Zidane said nothing for a while. "Yeah. The morning." Outside, the sky was starting to get a little lighter again. He slithered down into the sheets, and Garnet soon followed him.

They lay together in the sheets. Neither of them knew if this would be the last time or if it was the first of many. But in the crinkles of all the sheets held the memories of that long, endless Night. Of the words they shared, the stories that passed between them. Even the emotions that passed between the two. It was just as the pair was drifting off to sleep that those words were muttered. Three simple words.

"I love you."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I'm still knee-deep in project so I don't have much time to chat...
> 
> Please review if you've got time and follow for more. Thanks!


	10. 094. Alcohol

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy IX
> 
> Hello! Sorry I'm a day late...
> 
> We're in the same kinda timeframe/timeline as last time, this week. Enjoy!

_094\. Alcohol_

It was on an Alcohol fuelled night that I next saw Dagger.

Every day at the palace was the same monotony, I thought it seemed like. She would sit on her throne all morning hearing audiences, and sit in her various different stately chairs all afternoon doing various different bits of business until the realm decided she was no longer needed later at night and she was left there, spent, empty and exhausted.

Of course, I wasn't allowed in the castle to witness any of this, but I heard all sorts of things in my life. I was, after all, just a nobody. Even after everything had come that we'd done. Unofficial suitor of the Queen, but still just an 'actor'. Helped save the world, but had inexcusable crimes like pick-pocketing on my record. That didn't stop me from breaking my way into the castle, of course.

Sometimes I did it just to keep her company, sometimes it was to just listen to her small victories. Sometimes it was to remind her that she should probably change into something more suitable than her gown for sleeping, and sometimes I just reminded her that the world she'd discovered in the past two years was still there - her new world of the castle and governance wasn't all that she'd won.

And occasionally, all I would do was steal a bottle of wine from the castle cellars. Or two. Or, as in tonight, three. Garnet was a remarkable drinker. Royals.

Half a bottle of wine in, and the moaning about her awful day began.

"Oh they can be so difficult Zidane, they truly can. They want me to discuss the exact shading of the curtains so that I have no room left to discuss real reform, like a nation-wide pensions scheme."

"Yeah, I hear they can be right bastards."

And then, a bottle in is when the trivial affronts come out.

"The maid said it looked like I'd put on some weight when she was doing up my dress."

"The cook said that my diet had changed for the commoner since I'd come back. And that I was requesting some strange things nowadays."

"I heard two of the servants gossiping about me, you know."

This perked up Zidane's ears. He noted that they were now most of their way through the second bottle. This is usually where most of the things that were really bothering her came out.

"They out so much pressure on me all the time, you know? It's just too much to deal with."

Her accent was beginning to drop into a more common one, and she loosened her hair and pulled it down around her shoulders like she would in the days before she became a queen and he was back to being a no one.

"They keep on telling me to stand taller, look more regal, loose weight, breathe quieter, look prettier, find a better prince-"

"Wait, Garnet,"

"I don't even like that name anymore!" A few tears threatened to spill from her eyes. "I think my name is Sarah, but it isn't... _I'm_ not even the real Garnet, anyway." She wiped a tear from her eye. "They keep on telling me to do this and that and pretend like everything never happened. But those things did happen to me, I'm pretty sure I know hey we're real, and I can't go back to being who I was before after all of that. I'm changed. I'm not even Garnet anymore."

We were almost halfway through our third bottle at this point. Even I was beginning to feel a little hazy as we sat there, and I leaned over to her to pull her into a hug. She was so small, yet the biggest presence in my life. She looked cold, in her silken white gown embellished with pink and rose gold embroidery, but in my arms he burnt hot. I just held her, and she held me back, until I felt a little less cloudy and the stars were gleaming through the pristine windows, shutting out the winter cold.

"You are whoever you say you are, to me." I traced a fine scar on her arm that I knew to be there, under the sleeves of her dress. "Everything that we went through, I know happened. I watched as you battled for your life and this world, over and over. I understand that you're confused, and in pain, and that you don't feel like the same person as before - I don't either. But I know that I'm still me. And to me, Garnet, Dagger, Sarah, you're still the person I fell in love with - Alexandrian royalty or a summoner of Madain Sari."

She stared into my face, all big brown eyes that melted my heart. Oh wait - I'd never said that I love her out load before.

"I know. I love you too." I knew, as well. We just never said it. "You know, all the maids are saying that I've got a 'bun in the... cooker'." She pouted and tilted her head. "Oven?" Her eyes narrowed. I snickered and manoeuvred myself so that we both sat on the floor again the foot of the bed, my arm around her burning hot frame.

"They're saying you're pregnant." I explained, still chuckling a bit. I guess that was one of the things she _hadn't_ heard on our journey.

Her face contourted into an expression of disgust, and she looked more like Dagger then than I'd seen for a while. "Oh no way! No. Not even possible-"

"Really?" I raised my eyebrows.

"Yes, really." She looked at me with derision and rolled her eyes away.

"You know, they want me to marry a noble from Treno. Lord Alfreic Marsepolo. They keep on sending over letters from him being all sweet and gross."

She reached for another glass but I intervened by kissing her. She didn't want the hang over that'd come with another glass.

"Well, _I_ got an offer from the Queen on Lindblum the other day."

"Oh really, Eiko asked you again? With her husband in the same room?"

"Well..."

She sighed and took a swig from the bottle. Oh gods, I really do love her - when she's Garnet, Dagger, whomever.

"But, I am intending to offer marriage to the queen of Alexandria."

I tensed my jaw together out of nervousness.

"Oh? And what do you think she'll say?"

"Well yes, of course."

She took another swig, and nodded. "Sure. Just remind me in the morning and I'll make sure to bollock the minister until they let us. I have _had it_ with these people!"

"Or, we could always work on a reason to force them, right now." I suggested gingerly. She smirked.

"Of course! Why had I ever thought of this before?" She laughed, and swung herself around to sit on my lap.

And that is how, after two and three quarter bottles of red wine shared between us (almost equally), I came to be engaged to my Dagger, and on my way to being Prince Zidane, husband to Queen Garnet Til Alexandros XIII of Alexandria. Not that the long title wasn't a nice upshot to being with the person you love.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So rich people were always, always drinking wine back in the day. Even when water became hygienic to drink for the public. I figure that three bottles is totally feasible for a new-Queen in this logic, no? And even if you don't agree, hahahaha it's funny to think of tiny Dagger drinking so much~!
> 
> Anyway, please review if you've got time and follow for more. Thanks!


	11. 056. I Know

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy IX
> 
> Well, I don't have much to say again here...
> 
> Enjoy!

_056\. I know_

Tonight, the stars were brighter than ever.

Garnet stood alone on the highest balcony of Alexandria Castle, overlooking the city before her, and the fields that lay in the very distance. If she squinted and strained her eyes, she could just about see a few clusters of light that marked tiny villages here and there. It was beautiful. A beautiful city that she watched over, one that she was proud to serve as Queen.

But the stars here looked different to the ones that lay over the other parts of the world she'd seen. The ones in Madain Sari were bright orbs in the sky, the ones in Esto Gaza were so close, and twinkled as though they were laughing. And over Treno, you could barely see them.

Garnet sighed, and rested her elbows on the white, limestone balcony railings, leaning her head into her hands. Her nose was long-numb in the cool air, and her breath had the ghost of a lingering cloud echoing after it against the dark sky. It wasn't a queenly posture, but for once, she wasn't being watched. She began to sing, just quietly, the song that she'd sung all her life. The one that connected all of her lives together - Sarah, Dagger, Garnet and Queen. Such a funny life she'd lived, so strange. So many twists and turns that it hurt her head when she thought about it. For a long while, whilst they were journeying around the world as a group, she'd felt lost. She didn't know who she was anymore, and it broke her heart to think that all that she'd lived might have been a lie. She understood Vivi when he shook in fear over his own mortality. She understood Zidane when he lost all hope.

"The stars are bright tonight." Zidane's voice came from behind her, shaking her out of her thoughts. She turned to see him walking towards her slowly, dressed far more casually than she was, in her periwinkle blue dress, all embroidered with a few underskirts and a corset to complete things, with a silver tiara to complete things. Unnecessarily fancy for her overly-long stint at the desk today. "You look amazing, Dagger."

He kissed her cheek and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, smiling down at her. She stood upright slowly and smiled at him.

"Thank you." She was speaking formally again - but she'd never quite returned to the level of formality she'd once spoken with before meeting him. She supposed that there were some things about herself that had been irreversibly altered by him.

"What's the matter? You seem down." He leant back against the white stone and examined her face carefully. "Is it that Rusty following you again? Or are the Counsel giving you grief?"

Garnet shook her head and smiled at him. "Nothing is the matter, Zidane."

"Hey, Dagger. You're speaking posh again. I know something's wrong." His face collapsed into concern. "What happened? Who can I hit to make it better?"

She smiled at him. She didn't realise just how closely he'd picked up on her speech. She supposed that happened when you were married for a year or more. "I promise you, Zidane, nothing is wrong." She looked up to the stars. The smile still clung to her lips as strongly as the weak cloud had lingered before her mouth when she sighed.

"You know I'm King-"

"Prince Consort"

He waved a hand "-King now. If anyone ever did anything to upset you, I could take them out the official _and_ unofficial way."

She giggled lightly. "Oh, Zidane." He dove into him with a side-hug.

"Hey, Dagger," he wrapped his arms around her too, "you really aren't being a very convincing actress right now."

She giggled again and stepped back. "Zidane, nothing's wrong."

"Oh, well _that_ explains it." He smiled that smug smirk he did when he was stalling for time, so he could solve whatever problem he was unravelling. But it slipped away, and he paused. "Nope. I'm stuck. What is it?" He scratched the back of his head, frowning.

"Zidane, you are going to be a father."

"Oh." He was stunned into silence for a moment, eyes wide and lips pursed into a closed circle, staring out into who knows where. But, like he'd been hit by thunder, he leapt back into action, pulling Garnet into a hug so tight and fierce he knocked off her tiara. "Wait," he let go of her like she was covered in flan-goo, "can I do that now? Do I still do that? I don't want to hurt the baby. Oh-" He rushed to the back of her dress and tried to undo the corset at her back.

"Zidane!" She laughed and swatted him away from her back. "It's fine. Doctor Tott and I have known for a while, and this is perfectly safe."

"...Doctor Tott knew before me?"

"Ooh..." Garnet cooed, turning to face Zidane who was still holding the slightly undone strings of her corset. "It's not like that, _he_ had to know so that _I_ could know."

He nodded, and a smile twitched at the side of his lips, but he still didn't quite meet his eyes. She knew what this was; ever since they'd married, he'd expected to be far more involved in duties than he had been. He'd felt pushed aside, and far out of the loop - sent on missions to places he'd only visited as a thief, negotiating for a treaty he'd barely read. He'd hated it for months, and had gone so cold they'd had to work hard not to grow to hate each other. He'd said he'd felt like a child, being pushed and pulled and commanded around as though he weren't his own person. Garnet had feared that he would turn to the pretty maids to find solace in his sadness. But she stepped in to help him, and he never did. But things weren't always easy from then on; just because they were the rulers of Alexandria didn't mean they had the accompanying fairy tale ending.

"How long have you known?"

"About three hours."

He chuckled. And then smiled, and laughed, joyously, taking his wife, his queen, the person he could sometimes hate and love in equal measure, into his arms and holding tight. He stepped back, eyeing the strings he was still holding, dropping them. "I can't even undo that thing when I really want to anyway."

Garnet smiled widely at him, sighing at his antics. He wasn't wrong, though. She was happy that for the first time in a while, they were feeling the emotion - on the same wavelength as they had been when they'd journeyed together.

Zidane stood in front of her and paused, looking from her face to her stomach. "There's really my baby, in there?"

Garnet smiled. "Yes. A little lower than where you're looking, though, and so small you could barely see them right now."

Zidane looked Garnet in the eyes and she hadn't ever felt a love in this way for quite some time. "Garnet, I-"

"I know." It was all she needed to say. They both knew that Zidane wasn't like the rest of them were. That he was fundamentally, inextricably different from how Garnet was formed. That he may die early, be struck down by some terrible disease. That he may never have children; the one thing he wanted more than anything else, so that he could be just as involved in the state with the family he'd help raise, help to create. And yet, somehow, by some miracle, it had happened.

"Thank you."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please review if you've got time and follow for more. Thanks!


	12. Melodies of Life

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy IX
> 
> I'm afraid to say that this is it! It's been wonderful everyone; I'd just like to say a big thank you to all of my silent readers, and an even bigger thank you to my reviewers! It's been a blast and I'm extremely grateful that I could share all of this with you! So, for the final time, enjoy!

_Melodies of Life_

We had won. We had terminated the beast; the threat of our land - no, to our very existence. And yet I was not happy. Cheerfully singing and dancing around me, my comrades seemed on top of the world, but there I sat, alone in a dark, empty corner, siping now tasteless liquid, not touching the once delectable food. My life was as though an artist had painted a greyscale onto it; as though the very life had been sucked out of me.

'Heart-break'. That's what Freya had told me it was. Nodding from the corner, I can remember Beatrix's sympathetic face. But no - I didn't want their sympathy. Neither had and any notion of the pain I was enduring, I had quickly decided. The pain was like chaos ripping itself through my body, through my very blood. I could no longer stand to wear the bright orange jumpsuit that was so familiar; nor could I wear the long, beautiful white dress that still felt foreign on my skin. Instead, I wore clothes of mourning, black dresses, and grey shawls. Repeatedly the council tried to snap me out of 'the silliness' and when that failed they sent Beatrix to me for a 'wake up call'. They succeeded, for all they knew. I dressed in the way they wanted and placed a mask over my emotions once more. But none of them knew. They couldn't possibly know.

Destiny. Maybe it was that. The moment I looked into his marbled sky blue eyes, I felt a spark in me awaken. Like an old friend returning from times long ago, we spoke to each other familiarly. He quipped and I replied with sharp wit. He flirted and I complied. Never once did I realize what trap we were falling into until one night he uttered those three words that snapped me out of naivety.

"I love you."

He had said the words quickly and concisely, I didn't even realise until he stared at me with wide eyes, awaiting my response eagerly. At first I was baffled - this was not what a princess should do! But then I realised that I wasn't just a princess anymore, I had grown into something more; into _me_. Garnet, Sarah, Dagger - 'the queen with three names' I would later be called. Whatever I was called, I had more a sense of individuality than I'd ever felt before.

But those three words spelled the doom on my world. Naturally, as any hero should in a tragedy, he left at the end of our story. He flirted and joked one last time, alluding to the first time we ever spoke in this life. I couldn't do that; he was leaving me, just after we said we'd have a life together. I asked him to promise that he'd come back, that he wouldn't leave me alone.

He never replied.

Months passed, business continued as usual at the castle. Laws passed, parties had, suitors pushed to me and speeches made. But every time someone would mention him, my heart would plummet to Gaia's core; my eyes burned and my throat closed itself up. Time itself seemed to stop as memories of our short past together flashed through my mind. Sometimes I even believed that I could hear our song; hear him singing our song. But every time I turned, my eyes alight with joy, he wouldn't be there. In my dreams he would appear, he would promise me wonderful things and whisper sweetly in my ear. Every time he woke I was left in my bed, alone. In short, I was numb.

On the anniversary of my 'kidnapping', the Tantalus Theatre troop again returned for the same play that had brought us together. The play commenced much the same as last year, I stood on my balcony, high above the people and so far from my friends which I hadn't yet been allowed to be reacquainted with. I settled down in my far too big throne for another - hopefully fully performed - acting of 'I Want to Be Your Canary'.

Tuning out everything around me - including Beatrix and Steiner's conversation which they thought was so quiet - minus the wonderfully delivered lines of my favourite play; I concentrated vividly on Tantalus' new interpretation of Marcus as a hooded figure, adding a delightfully suspenseful note to the performance. The whole cast seemed to be crackling with an energy of excitement.

The play drew almost to its finale, and I prepared myself for my address to the people, my first birthday speech since I acceded to the throne. I was so absorbed, I almost missed the final scene, my favourite, until Beatrix tapped me on the shoulder with a gleam in her motherly eyes. I hung onto every word of Marcus' as though my life depended on it. The actor who so skilfully portrayed him had a voice I would love to listen to, his voice was one I could trust easily and depend upon.

"I beseech thee, wondrous moonlight, grant me my only wish!" I moved my lips to each word, knowing the lines like the back of my hand.

"Bring my beloved Dagger to me!" The hooded man whirled his cloak down as he delivered the final, and most unexpected, line.

I froze, the numbness of his memories slowly thawing as he stared up at me with an expectant look. I jerked out of my seat, rushing to grip the white stone edge of the balcony. Making a split-second decision, I ran towards the large wooden doors, picking up the frustratingly long skirts I wore as I went. As swiftly as I could, I stepped down the winding staircase and out through the other set of large, wooden doors and down onto the path, gently pushing people away as I went. With a loud clunk that echoed in the silence of surprise, the Royal pendant dropped from around my neck. I gazed back towards it, before deciding I didn't need it. No, Zidane loves me for _me_. We didn't need status, class or chance of birth to impede us. Untangling my silver circlet - crown from my hair and casting it aside (saying a speedy apology to past monarchs who had adorned the royal jewellery). Prizing apart the last of the thickening crowd, I made my way onto the wide, familiar stage and into the even more familiar arms of my beloved. I felt at home his arms, and the world burst into colour around him; he who had been gone for so, so long.

Zidane. Stumbling from the added weight when I launched myself into his arms, Zidane smiled into my hair, using his other hand that wasn't holding my tight to stroke my now long again hair.

Ignoring the raucous applause from the audience, and cheering from close friends, I let a sob escape my lips for the first time in months as he gently caressed my hair, mumbling promises of happiness into my ear. After a time, I learned back to look into his sapphire eyes for the first time in about a year. I punched his chest gently, as though to make him feel all the pain I'd felt; he took it rather well, not a single complaint made. Finally, I released the breath I didn't know I'd been holding and looked up at him with the first genuine smile in months. Slowly, we leaned close in a familiar fashion for an all too public kiss. But I didn't care, the whole world could stare for all I liked. None of that mattered right now. What mattered most was that he was back with me here.

The melodies of life had brought us together again and intertwined us once more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I thought this was a suitable note to end things on, no? So whilst I am sad this is the end, I'm happy to end it in such a way!
> 
> I hate to be the one who plugs all their stuff, but please, if you do like my writing, then check out my profile! I've got over 20 other stories, and I bet that there'll be something you'll enjoy.
> 
> Please review if you've got time, favourite if you enjoyed until now, and follow for (possible) updates (probably far) in the future. Thanks!
> 
> And, at least for now, goodbye.


	13. 023. Christmas

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy IX
> 
> Enjoy!

_023\. Christmas_

The dagger flashed as brightly as the sun in the firelight. Far behind Zidane the fire still roared away, Vivi and Amarant talking about Vivi's grandpa and the last Christmas Vivi remembered with him.

Zidane tuned out the words. It was a skill he'd perfected many years ago.

"Isn't that the dagger I named myself for?" Dagger sat down, gracefully as ever, legs hanging over the cliff edge next to Ziande.

He didn't even turn to look at her. "Yeah. I've had it years now."

"It's well maintained. You must cherish it."

Zidane chuckled. "Sure. That's one word for it."

He sighed deeply, throwing the dagger into the air and catching it as it spiralled back down to his hand. One knee propped up and the other hanging over the cliff edge, Zidane leant back on his other hand, relaxed as his tense muscles could manage.

"Zidane? I've never heard you be quite this silent. It's most unlike you."

"Yeah..." he gave her a grin. "It is like me at Christmas. I'm not the biggest fan."

Garnet frowned. "You aren't?"

"Nope."

She shuffled awkwardly in his silence, the rocks scuffing over the ground. "Would you like to sure?"

He waved the dagger in the night; orange flares reflecting the firelight behind them occasionally. "Sure. This is the story of why I don't like Christmas." His voice was bitter. He could feel his tongue repulsing each word. But as long as he didn't look at Dagger, see the surprised naivety in her eyes, it's like he wasn't causing it.

"I wasn't more than seven - just a kid, barely old enough to take care of myself more than a day. It snowed in Lindblum a hell of a lot that year. So much that we couldn't open the theatre like normal, so me and Blank spent the day lazing around.

"Want to go build a snowman?" He asked me, and of course, I accepted. I was a seven-year-old - What seven-year-old doesn't?

So we went outside. Just outside our old den. Blank and I, we threw snowballs and spent hours making this one snowman. It was a bit shoddy, not nearly neat enough to own up to having made, but we were happy.

And then, just when he stood back to admire it and kept our eyes away long enough to throw a couple anowballs, it got kicked over.

"Think you're child enough to build a snowman, do ya boys? Think you're free enough to do this whenever you want? I got another thing comin' for ya."

He kicked the snow right at us. I remember the cold; it ached right down to my bones. I couldn't do anything to fix it, we got stuck out there in the freezing cold and drenched with ice water as Baku kicked us around and briefed us on our next job.

"It's time for you two to break into the Smithy and steal some of their pretty little things. Tonight. And don't you dare build another stupid pile of crap, you hear me?"

We knew better not to mess around by then. Besides, if you squeal, you get chucked.

"So we went that evening, hid under the cover of nightfall and snuck through the town whilst everyone else celebrated, warm in their homes. Even if we huddled together for warmth, it didn't matter. We were frozen in the cold, almost passed out by the time we made it to the Smithy. And we crouched by the window for warmth; saw the happy family all together and celebrating round the table. Little kids smiling; parents in love.

There's a reason why Baku called the Troop Tantalus. Halfway between two things you want, torn in your desire, and destined to never reach them. We're born into this world in that position. We're not meant to get the things we want in this world."

Zidane sounds the knife in his hand again. "And that's the knife I got this dagger. Stole it from that smithy and never turned it over. I got a right beating for it when Baku eventually found out, but I kept it anyway."

"Zidane..."

"You don't have to say anything, Princess. I know you don't get it. It's alright."

She shook her head; hair black as coal shivering down her back. "No. I think Bali's wrong. He's wrong about everything, but especially in that you can get whatever you want in life."

Zidane looked at her; gave her a long examining stare. "You think so."

She looked away, shy. "I think so."

He grinned, but this time he really didn't mean it. "Merry Christmas, Dagger."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please review if you've got time, and follow for more (at some point in the future...). Thanks!

**Author's Note:**

> Oh Garnet, if only you knew! But there we are, I didn't really want a happy ending for this one - it's not all happy endings, after all!
> 
> If you enjoyed then please leave a review and follow for updates. Thanks!


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